Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra Select Programs 2017 to Present
* denotes living composer
2023
April (postponed due to illness)
Strings of WHCO at Word Up Community Bookstore: Recirculation
Selections from:
Ludwig van Beethoven: Opus 18, No. 1
Joseph Haydn: Op 3, No. 5
George Walker: Lyric for Strings
Teresa Carreña: String Quartet in B Minor
Antonín Dvořák: String Quartet in F Major "American"
April
Winds of WHCO at Cafe Buunni (Inwood)
Ulysses Kay: Prelude for unaccompanied flute
*Reena Esmail: Nadiya
*Paquito D'Rivera: Habanera from Aires Tropicales
Paul de Wailly: Aubade
*Valerie Coleman: Rubispheres
Jean Françaix: Quartet for Winds
May
WHCO Presents: Calliope Brass at Bennett Park
*Rich Shemaria: Pandora’s Magic Castle
And other brass quintet favorites
May
Metamorphosis | Metamorfosis
*Jessie Montgomery: Strum
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Nonet
Igor Stravinsky: Danses Concertantes
2022
April
Mahler/Schoenberg: Das Lied von der Erde
Gustav Mahler: Das Lied von Der Erde, arranged for chamber orchestra by Arnold Schoenberg & Rainer Riehn
May
Ancient & Ecstatic
*Christopher Theofanidis: Peace Love Light YOUMEONE from Visions & Miracles
*Sufjan Stevens: Suite from “Run Rabbit Run” arr. by Michael P. Atkinson
*Stacy Garrop: Lo Yisa Goy
*Adolphus Hailstork: Sonata de Chiesa
*Clarice Assad: Dreamscapes featuring Stephanie Zyzak, Violin
J.S. Bach: Contrapunctus 1-4 from The Art of the Fugue, BWV 1080
June
Your Distant Destiny
*Paul Brantley: On the Pulse of Morning Text by Maya Angelou (Premiere of new orchestration commissioned by WHCO)
*Chris Whittaker: This song was for you from “Symphony”
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
2021
February
Streaming Recital: Exponential Ensemble
Paul de Wailly: Aubade
Ulysses Kay: Suite for Flute and Oboe
*Amy Brandon: Crown of the Sun
*Valerie Coleman: “Helen Keller” and “Le Grand Duc Mambo” from Portraits of Langston
*Nemo Keane: The Beginning of a Dream
*Daniel Wilson: Sonatina Allegro from “A Suite of Undanceable Dances”
March
Streaming Recital: Catalyst Quartet “Music of Florence Price”
String Quartet in G Major “Unfinished”
“Little David Play on Yo’ Harp” from Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint (Premiere)
Five Folksongs in Counterpoint
March
Streaming Recital: Ashley Windle and Taisiya Pushkar
*Jessie Montgomery: Peace
Wolfgange Amadeus Mozart: Violin Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 378
Joel Engel: 2 Violin Pieces, Op. 20
April
Streaming Recital: Valeriya Sholokhova
Gaspar Cassadó: Suite for Violoncello, I. Preludio & Fantasia
György Ligeti: Sonata for Solo Cello, I. Dialogo
J.S. Bach: Suite No. 1 in G major, Allemande
Krzysztof Penderecki: Per Slava
Giuseppe dall’Abaco: Caprice No. 8
Benjamin Britten: Cello Suite No. 1, I. Fuga
J.S. Bach: Suite No. 3 in C major, Gigue
April
Streaming Recital: Trio 212
Gordon Jacob: Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon
*Joseph Hallman: Miniatures
*Damian Montano: Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon
*Leanna Primiani: OMNI for Reed Trio and Electronics (World Premiere)
Jean Françaix: Divertissement for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon
May
Streaming Recital: Mark Chien
Clara Schumann: Three Romances for Violin & Piano, Op. 22
*Jessie Montgomery: Rhapsody No. 1
Eugène Ysaÿe: Sonata in D minor, Op. 27, No. 3 “Georges Enescu”
Amy Beach: Romance, Op. 23
July
Stringing Uptown Together
*W. Brent Sawyer: …Of Heavenly Joy (World Premiere)
*Hilary Purrington: Anthem
*Philip Wharton: Oh, But Everyone Was a Bird
*Chris Whittaker: Lullaby
*Jorge Sosa: Son de Harlem (World Premiere)
October
From Above 96th Street
*W. Brent Sawyer: Of Heavenly Joy
*Jorge Sosa: Son de Harlem
*Peter Gordon: Magic and Transformation featuring Linda Collazo, Mezzo-soprano
*Joel Hoffman: Crossing Points
*Chris Whittaker: Waking Beside You featuring Linda Collazo, Mezzo-soprano
*Jessica Meyer: Through Which We Flow
2020
February
“Melodies Pour Out of Me”
José Dolores Cerón: A la caída de la tarde
*Chris Whittaker: Violin Concerto
Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G, Op. 88
2019
January
Igor Stravinsky: La Historia del Soldado (A Soldier’s Tale) Newly commissioned bilingual translation in English and Spanish
February
“A Thousand Cranes”
*Kenji Bunch: Supermaximum
Toru Takemitsu: Requiem pour orchestra à cordes
*Karen Tanaka: Dreamscape
*Christopher Theofanidis: A Thousand Cranes
March
“Simple Strings”
*Michael Torke: December
*Anna Clyne: Within Her Arms
Britten: Simple Symphony, Op. 4
Korngold: Sinfonische Serenade in Bb, Op. 39
April
“The Mighty Cacophonous Orchestrasauras”
Children’s concert written and arranged by C. Whittaker, featuring selections by Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Copland, Tchaikovsky, J. Strauss, Ravel/Mussorgsky, Elgar & Glinka
May
“The Connecting Vine: Legacy of Nadia Boulanger”
J.S. Bach, arr. Philip Lasser: Prelude and Fugue in C minor
Ravel: String Quartet in F major, II. Assez vif
Thomson: Cantabile (Portrait of Nicolas de Chatelin)
Diamond: Rounds for String Orchestra I. Allegro molto vivace
*Annika Sokolofsky: Hush, II. As if we could kill time without injuring eternity
*Chris Whittaker: Lullaby for Strings
*Philip Lasser: Manchester Miniature
October
“What Keeps Me Awake”
*Angélica Negrón: What Keeps Me Awake
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Guitar Concerto featuring Nilko Andreas
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
November
“Arroz con Schnitzel”
*Valerie Coleman: Afro-Cuban Concerto
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581
Arnold Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 9
February
*Jessie Montgomery: Starburst
*Aaron J. Kernis: Musica Celestis
Elgar: Introduction and Allegro
Schoenberg: Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4 (“Transfigured Night”)
May
*Jennifer Higdon: Machine
Wieniawski: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 47
Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
October
R. Strauss: Overture and Dance
*Jessie Montgomery: Records from a Vanishing City
*John Corigliano: The Cloisters
Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 21
December
*Marin Alsop, Bob Christianson, Gary Anderson: Too Hot to Handel, “The Gospel Messiah”
2017
January
Presenting Aeolus Quartet
Aaron Copland: Two Pieces for String Quartet
*Charles Wuorinen: String Quartet No.2
*Missy Mazzoli: Quartet for Queen Mab
Samuel Barber: String Quartet in B minor, Op.11
February
W. A. Mozart: Divertimento in D major, K. 136
*Gabriela Lena Frank: Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout
*Fernando Garcia Lascurain: Nostalgia de una Amistad (Lamentos)
Antonín Dvořák: Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22
March
WHCO Wind Quintet
Albert Roussel: Divertissement, Op. 6
Irving Gifford Fine: Partita for Wind Quintet
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Quinteto em forma de chôros
Bohuslav Martinu: Sextet for Piano and Wind Instruments
Astor Piazzolla: Liebertango
April
Spotlight Recital
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Ciranda das Sete Notas
Philippe Hersant: Niggun
Georg Philipp Telemann: Sonata in F Minor, TVW 41:f1
*Kim Sherman: Invocation for voice, solo violin and string quartet
*David Noon: Cadenza Variations for Violin (World Premiere)
Consuelo Velázquez: “Bésame Mucho”
Manuel Ponce: Estrellita (My Little Star)
May
*Chris Whittaker: From This Elevation (World Premiere)
Jean Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 “Italian”
September
Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Samuel Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
W. A. Mozart: Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504 “Prague”
November
Presenting Catalyst Quartet
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Quartet No. 1
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5
*Diego Vega: String Quartet
Astor Piazzolla: Angel Suite
Alberto Ginastera : Quartet No. 2, Op. 26